1. Field
The following description relates to a technology to process an image, and more particularly, to reduce noise and restore details of an image.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, an image acquiring apparatus acquires and processes light reflected from an object to display an image of the object to a user. Recent developments in information communication technology have led to the distribution of various image acquiring apparatuses such as digital cameras.
Generally, a digital camera includes an image sensor to absorb light reflected from an object and to convert the light into an electrical signal. The digital camera processes the image signal acquired from the image sensor to display an image. When absorbing light, typically, the digital camera selectively absorbs a specific wavelength of visible light through a filter disposed in front of the image sensor.
In a low illumination environment, for example, indoor or at nighttime, or in high-speed photography, however, upon capturing using a specific wavelength of visible light, image distortion may occur due to noise. For example, in the case of a color image, high-frequency/detail components may be distorted due to low sensitivity and noise, resulting in noticeable picture-quality deterioration.
Meanwhile, an image acquiring apparatus absorbing a wavelength of infrared light has been developed. An example of such apparatus is an infrared camera, and typically, an image acquired from the infrared camera has no color information but has relatively high sensitivity.